Chasing A Prophetic Dream
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: After a battle, Carla has a vision of the future. Cobra, overhearing it, decides to make it reality. No matter how long it takes. CoLu Week 2015. Day 7: Journey.


**And here is the final prompt for CoLu Week. *sobs***

 **It was a fantastic run, everyone! I'm ecstatically happy that so many people came out to contribute! You've all made CoLu better for it!**

 **We are totally doing this next year, too.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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The strangest vision Carla had ever experienced had been the day Crime Sorciere had met up with Team Natsu during a job. Though to call it a simple vision was a gross understatement and a poor descriptor for the assault of sights and sounds that had besieged the feline.

Carla didn't remember much about the job that led to her experiencing the visions. All that she recalled was more in the general way one knows that something happened - the actual sensations long gone from the memory. But she recalled the visions perfectly to this day, years later, in perfect detail.

The job had been relatively simple - take out a dark guild that had been terrorizing a small town. Although not much information had been posted, Team Natsu had eagerly accepted the job since it contained a rather large reward (and Lucy was short on rent once again). When they arrived at the requester's house, they discovered that the dark guild had holed up in some ruins outside of the town, and there were far too many for the tiny contingent of Rune Knights from the next town over to take on. So they'd put in the request.

Unfortunately, the job had taken a turn for the worse just as soon as they'd arrived at their base. It started off when Team Natsu stormed the place - counter to Lucy's well-thought-out plan to infiltrate and systematically take out the strongest mages. The group ran headlong into a meeting taking place between the most powerful mages of not only their target guild, but of five other dark guilds.

It seemed that they had been trying to recreate a version of the Baram Alliance, and had all once been members of guilds under the organization's banner. This particular group had decided to take what was clearly a successful model for domination, and had reached out to like-minded guilds that had sent delegations to the negotiations.

They did not take kindly to the presence of Team Natsu.

Despite how strong Team Natsu was, they soon encountered a great deal of trouble fending off the sheer number of mages that were against them. Not just underlings, either - a great many of their opponents were very powerful indeed. The job went downhill fast, for the enemies just kept coming from all sides. Lucy thought to take to the narrow corridors and fight back to back so that the mages were forced to come at them one at a time and couldn't sneak around... but that only worked when they weren't faced with wall-walkers or other ilk not bound by the walls' physical constraints.

It was going pretty badly - Team Natsu was exhausted and starting to falter.

Then Crime Sorciere appeared suddenly, cleaving their way through the enemy combatants. Carla remembered thinking about how odd it was to see the former members of Oracion Seis fighting on their side for once - and not just on their side, but _at_ them. Rapidly, though there was some minor confusion initially, Crime Sorciere took up positions alongside of members of Team Natsu to cooperatively combat the dark mages. What followed came a hazy blur of colour and sound; even immediately afterward the Exceed couldn't recall precisely who fought alongside whom. (Though she did vaguely remember the holy terror that was Erza in her Flight Armor and Racer fighting together with both his slow and speed magics as support. _Anyone_ would attempt to block _that_ out, though, quite frankly.)

Once the dust had settled, and the dark mages trussed up for transport to the Rune Knights, the group through them into the back of Erza's cart - piled up like her belongings. Outside the musty hallways of the underground ruins, the group decided to take a breather and catch up a bit with the independent guild.

Carla observed the rest wearily while Wendy held her tight. She was too exhausted to maintain her transformation magic at the moment and had reverted back to her true form. Wendy chatted with Meredy, though about what Carla really wasn't paying much attention to. She just allowed the sound of her Slayer's happy voice wash over her. Erza, Jellal, and Richard stood a bit distant from the rest, Carla saw. Although she couldn't hear from this distance, she assumed they were discussing the whereabouts of the hulking man's little brother. Racer and Angel were catching up with Gray. Happy flew around Gray's head, agitating him with his signature, loud, "You liiiiiiiiiike her. Gray and Angel sitting in a tree -" Gray was not taking kindly to the blue tomcat's irritating song (though Angel didn't seem to mind). Meanwhile, Natsu was attempting to mime something to Midnight. Which wasn't working in the slightest if the utterly blank expression on his face was anything to go by.

Perhaps the oddest pair of all, Cobra and Lucy stood separate from the rest. They appeared to be shaking hands. Somewhat awkwardly, neither quite meeting the others' gaze. Carla tried desperately to remember if she'd seen them fighting together, and she thought she might have.

That's when the visions descended upon the white Exceed.

Abruptly, the world around melted away - the scenery disappearing before the Exceed's eyes. She found herself, a moment later, within Lucy's apartment of all places. There before her was the of back of a familiar couch, with a head of maroon hair protruding above it. The scene shifted, until Carla was viewing it from the front. There on Lucy's couch sat not only the Poison Dragon Slayer, but Lucy as well. Both were fast asleep, Lucy curled up within Cobra's arms.

Lucy's apartment vanished, only to reappear a moment later. The couch was empty this time, but Lucy's bed most certainly wasn't. Skin heating up beneath her fur, Carla tried her best to turn away from the pair's... activities. She wished she could block out the noises they were making, too.

Thankfully for the embarrassed Exceed, it didn't last long. Carla found herself upon a grassy knoll with the vast majority of Fairy Tail's guild members present and running pell mell all over the place in formal attire. In the center of all the hubbub, Lucy stood in a gossamer gown of startling white in the bright sunshine. She was dancing with Cobra, Lyra playing her harp nearby. The pair seemed utterly content, even though the rest of Fairy Tail had started a brawl in the background.

Then the scenery changed once more, this time to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Cobra was furiously pacing around outside Fairy Tail's infirmary. The man was alternating between grinning like a moron and snarling at his own shadow. Anyone who approached the agitated Dragon Slayer received a malevolent glare and a warning growl the likes of which even sent Laxus into retreat. A wail pierced the air, and before the unmistakeable cry of a newborn had faded, Cobra burst through the infirmary doors.

Finally, Carla found herself upon a hill. With a start, she realized that it was the same one from the third vision. An older Lucy and Cobra stood beside each other, with soft smiles on their faces as they observed a pack of children of varying ages run around. Children that looked very much like the Poison Dragon Slayer and Celestial mage watching over them.

As suddenly as the visions had come, they faded. Carla gasped for air, trembling from the force of what she'd seen. This was the farthest Carla had ever seen into the future, and it had taken its toll upon her. Lifting her gaze, she met the startled indigo eye of the Poison Dragon Slayer.

Cobra had heard. He had seen - no, _experienced_ \- the entirety of the future revelation just as Carla had.

Lucy was no longer standing beside him - she had at some point moved off to join Gray and the others. Cobra seemed visibly rattled by what Carla's foresight had revealed.

The Poison Dragon Slayer glanced over at Lucy, something akin to wonder in his lone eye. When he met Carla's gaze again, the orb was imploring. What had he just seen, exactly? How was this even possible?

Carla didn't know. All she could do was give the dark skinned man a somewhat helpless shrug. Her visions didn't always come true, she silently informed him. The farther down the timeline they were, the greater the chance circumstances could change and alter the future entirely.

Something hard settled into Cobra's form. He then stalked over to join the conversation with Gray's group, though he remained by Lucy's side the entire time. In fact, he hardly left the blonde alone the rest of the day and only with obvious, great reluctance did he depart with the rest of his guild.

It was pretty clear to Carla by that point that Cobra had been _far_ from disgusted or angry at the possibility of a future spent with Lucy Heartfilia. If anything, the Poison Dragon Slayer had been intrigued. The desperation Carla had glimpsed from him had been real - he wanted that future. With everything he had.

Years later, now, Carla could look back at that day and smile. She had been correct, she had later discovered. Cobra had made a habit of dropping by the guild randomly whenever he could and the Dragon Slayer evenly divided the time between rekindling his friendship with Kinana and just... hanging out with Lucy. He even crossed paths with Team Natsu regularly on jobs after that, his Soul Listening magic aiding him greatly in his endeavor. At one point, Cobra had managed to get Carla alone to discuss the vision he'd piggybacked upon. He wanted to know exactly how her ability worked. And, with no small amount of chagrin, did admit to having found Lucy rather interesting before the premonition. It had started when they'd fought alongside each other in those underground corridors.

Carla found herself supporting the shockingly awkward, and completely smitten, Poison Dragon Slayer. Carla couldn't help but be proud of his efforts whenever she saw him together with Lucy, smiling genuinely. Lucy, too, enjoyed being around Cobra. Their affection was mutual and Cobra was over the moon with happiness.

Not that the relationship hadn't hit roadblocks. Cobra hadn't wanted to keep the future vision that he'd seen from her, and so one day (after forewarning Carla so she could deal with any potential fallout) he told Lucy what the pair had witnessed.

Lucy had been furious. She'd screamed at Cobra, railing against the idea that someone was deciding her future for her. It had taken a long time for her to calm down - weeks, actually. Cobra gave her the space she needed to think it over, and during that time, she confronted Carla. The white Exceed explained as gently as she could to the distraught young woman that with a future so far down the line, it was still possible to change it. What Carla, and Cobra, had seen was only a possibility not an inevitability. They'd changed the future before - they could do it again.

Then Lucy had asked how she could tell that Cobra's feelings for her were genuine - and honestly Carla had no real answer for her. She'd seen a spark of something between the pair prior, but that had been all it was. The Exceed did confide to Lucy something Cobra had told her in confidence; the situation seemed to call for the reveal. The part that had convinced Cobra to pursue Lucy had not been the wedding, the children, or even the fact that they'd slept together.

Cobra had wanted the very first vision the most. Just the pair of them, asleep on Lucy's couch. The Poison Dragon Slayer had told Carla that his entire life he had never been able to trust anyone to the extent that he'd witnessed in just those few short seconds. Nor had he been trusted like that in return. It was that same desire for trust that had led to him telling Lucy about the vision, Carla suspected.

The pair eventually worked through their argument, and became even more inseparable. To the point Jellal joked that Cobra should just go ahead and join Fairy Tail instead (though Cobra never did).

Good, fun times had punctuated the two's relationship as well. Carla could still see clearly the day Lucy and Cobra had come into the guild, only for the male Dragon Slayers to launch themselves at the former dark mage. While Cobra ducked and dodged a variety of elemental attacks aimed at him, Lucy made her way over to where Wendy and Carla were sitting. Wincing a little, she sat beside them - obviously tired, but brimming over with happiness. Carla didn't need the nose of a Dragon Slayer to tell why the males were going berserk; it seemed that some variant of the second vision had come true.

At their actual wedding, after a courtship that had lasted three years, Lucy wore not the glimmering, ivory gown that Carla and Cobra had seen. Instead, her Spirits had crafted for her a dress that seemed spun out of the night sky and starlight. She'd been even more beautiful than Carla remembered.

So in the end, it had turned out all for the better, Carla believed. The visions had come true, yes, but not because they had been preordained. They'd come to fruition through the hard work of the two lovers involved, and Carla had gained two new 'children' to fret over. At least, until they had children of their own.

Then Carla had many, many more children to look after.

Especially since she and Wendy babysat the Celestial mage's and Poison Dragon Slayer's rather rambunctious offspring on an increasingly frequent basis.

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 **It was fun writing this from Carla's point of view.**

 **I think I'll make a longer story version of this someday, with multiple chapters. But for now this is it.**

 **Ironically, the final prompt submission was the only one that was actually a one-shot….**

 **Getting ready to update Eloquent Silence for tomorrow!**


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